NO SKATES NEEDED: Jayne Winters, of South China, snapped this bald eagle on the China Lake ice.
GUARDING THE BERRIES: Joan Chaffee, of Clinton, captured this male cardinal guarding the berries.
FALL SCENE: Susan Thiem, of Texas, a summer resident of China, captured this fall foliage scene last fall.
Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts, is pleased to recognize those students who distinguish themselves academically during the course of the school year. The following local students were recently named to the University’s dean’s list for the Fall semester, which ended in December 2021.
Augusta resident Mandy Cooper, majoring in business administration.
Augusta resident Lauren Murray, majoring in economics.
Chelsea resident Michael Nicholas, majoring in mechanical engineering/physics. In addition to achieving distinction through the dean’s list, Nicholas is a member of the University Honors Program.
To achieve the dean’s list distinction, students must carry a full program of at least four courses, have a quality point average of 3.5 or greater out of a possible 4.0 and carry no single grade lower than a C- during the course of their college career. Each student receives a letter of commendation and congratulation from their college dean.
by Debbie WalkerSince I grew up right over the hill from Winnecook Lake/Unity Pond it seemed like I was attracted to it in all seasons. I grew up with a bit of a cocky, self-assured attitude when it came to that lake. It seemed like I was born knowing how to swim. I was always in a debate with mom and dad about the lake and it would usually end with “Because I Said So”.
I also grew up over hearing stories of dad’s escapades at the lake. I heard these stories late at night when dad and his sister were talking and they thought I was asleep. I heard about how they used to dive off the railroad trestle and how he and his brothers used to swim before the ice was out of the lake. No. Permission for this activity was not granted. However it was discovered they were sneaking these swims in when their father found their underwear hanging from the trees, drying. Seems my grandmother couldn’t figure out where all their underwear was disappearing to, but my grandfather found it all and found out their little secret.
Beware of talking about your past escapades when a child is anywhere in earshot of your conversation, asleep or awake, because you just never know for sure. I am reasonably sure those were not stories they intended me to hear.
There were several times when I got grounded by following in dad’s footsteps (seemed reasonable to me). I got caught going to the railroad trestle to swim with my cousin Kenneth, got busted on that one. I also talked a couple of the girls into going down to the lake with me before the ice was out, to go swimming, Busted once again. My mother was good, I’m telling ya.!
Well, once I was grown (?) it was always known that I was going to be the first one in the family to get in that lake each year. It was always a big joke, even into my married life. What I didn’t realize was by now I had nephews and a niece who had listened to my late night stories.
My love for the water had not changed over the years so I had added to my skill and education by taking all the Red Cross and the YMCA courses; I was a registered instructor with both. Although we had done swimming lessons with my niece and nephews as they came along, and had some water safety talks, we had missed the “black ice” talk.
It seems this one day one of my nephews decided he was going out onto the ice, “black ice”, this is “late in the year ice” and is not safe. (Called black because it really looks somewhat black by this time.) Again long story short, my nephew fell in and had it not been for his little brother and sister quickly getting help, our story might have turned out different.
The heart breaker to me was his first comment on being retrieved from the water was, “I beat Aunt Deb into the water this year.” I was devastated. I realized we had used the old, “Because I said so” with the kids instead of teaching them how the lake and the ice works. So please before another child wants to be the first or thinks, ice is ice, please have a serious talk with them and explain what the fall/winter/spring dangers are, not just the summer ones. If you don’t truly understand find an instructor who does and in a language the kids will listen to. Spring, summer, fall or winter, your children do not belong anywhere near the water (ice) unless you are close by. Please don’t use the old, “Because I said so”. It doesn’t work, education does. Take it from someone who knows.
There are so many more things I am just curious about. I try to replay this column every year. Consider it my “Public Service Announcement.” Reach me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Thanks again for reading and all your comments, they are appreciated.
Takashi Asahina
by Peter CatesJapanese conductor Takashi Asahina (1908-2001) achieved renown in his native country throughout most of his lifetime but was little known elsewhere until the early 1990s when he was 85.
I found out the general details during a phone interview with former Chicago Symphony manager Henry Fogel. He was visiting friends in Japan and invited to attend a symphony concert. He told of witnessing an elderly gentleman hobbling to the podium and figuring that the concert would be nothing special.
He quickly found out that this presumption was erroneous. The scheduled work was the Alpine Symphony of Richard Strauss, a piece demanding not only the usual 100 musicians, but also extra brass and percussion including a wind machine, and an organ.
And the moment the elderly gentleman lifted his baton, sheer power and magic occurred. Henry told of being so unexpectedly stunned by an unknown conductor that he went to a record store in Tokyo and spent $250 or more on every recording of Asahina that was in shock.
Daniel Barenboim
Upon his return to Chicago, he told then- Music Director Daniel Barenboim of his experience and suggested Asahina for a guest conducting gig; to which Barenboim smiled skeptically. Pulling out a CD of one of the Bruckner Symphonies, he then pleaded with that Maestro to just listen for 20 minutes.
After 10 minutes, Barenboim told Henry to engage Asahina for three weeks of guest appearances. Those concerts were a hit with orchestra players and audiences.
A CD of Mahler’s hyper intense and gorgeous 6th Symphony features Asahina conducting the Osaka Philharmonic, one of several orchestras he regularly appeared with in Japan. He gave a performance that built from beginning to end with an astute balancing of rhythm, dynamics and subtlety of detail.
At the Symphony’s first performance during the early 1900s, the composer was a nervous wreck before it began, wringing his hands and crying like a baby.
YouTubes abound of Asahina’s broadcasts and are well worth exploring.
St. Valentine
by Gary KennedyWhen we think of Valentine’s Day we think of sweethearts, roses and candies. For most of us it implies love and how we can show it, thus the beauty and the sweets. Some people display this special day in other ways such as, Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day and ends on February 14 as Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s week is the most celebrated love week of the year.
However, St. Valentine’s Day started as a Christian feast day honoring one or two Christian martyrs name Saint Valentine. Biblically speaking we refer to 1st Corinthians 13:4-8, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, and it is not one sided keeps no record of wrongs. (Song of Solomon 8:7), many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. The trick is to not read anything into the process but to accept it as the greatest gift you shall ever receive, God’s love through his son. Remember, this is a Christian view.
The name Valentine was actually named after a third-century martyr. This holiday has absolutely no roots in or from the Bible even though we can equate appropriate biblical passages from the Bible. In all due respect we must remember that there are many religions which are not Christian. By that I mean there are faiths that don’t believe or worship the same.
To be more explicit some faiths don’t believe in Christ but do believe in God. Christians believe that God has a son and others who parallel the Christian religion believe that Christ was a prophet, but not the son of God. Holy wars have been fought all over our earth for as long as religion has existed.
So it has always been wise to handle Valentine’s Day from a sweetheart/lovers perspective and not a religious one. This problem has gone on for many centuries. I am just giving you a vague other view for our celebrating a holiday which seems to imply religious overtones. So respectfully, let’s keep it as it was originally intended and buy those chocolates and roses for someone that we hold dear. This could be your sweetheart, a close friend in your classroom or even your mother.
For those of you who want more information from the religious point of view, St. Valentine was a Roman priest and physician who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus at about 270. He was buried on the Via Flaminia and Pope Julius I reportedly built a basilica over his grave.
Valentine’s Day is banned in several countries such as Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan and even regions of Russia. This St. Valentine’s Day originated as a Christian Feast Day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Valentine. This most likely is how this holiday received connection with religion, especially Christianity. So, I guess we just have to remember the true roots of this sweet love filled holiday is the commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
As for myself, I probably will head for the florist shop and design a nifty bouquet of flowers and put them together with something sweet, besides myself and present them in some romantic fashion to my loving partner. I being a man of letters and words will probably design a sweet display in card form in order to receive my reward, a hug and a kiss, if I am lucky.
Whatever your choice will be, we here sincerely wish you and your loved ones a very happy Valentine’s Day. Even though some of you may have been mislead by the meaning of this holiday, love is in the air and as we know God is love, so he automatically comes with it. God bless you all and have a very happy and safe Valentine’s Day.
The views of the author in this column are not necessarily those of The Town Line newspaper, its staff and board of directors.
The Block House at Fort Kent, on the Canadian border, in 1839, at the time of the Aroostook War.
The end of the American Revolution did not end enmity between Britain and its former colonies. They fought one more war, the War of 1812 (June 18, 1812 – Feb. 18, 1815).
Even after that war, the border between the United States and British Canada remained partly unsettled until the Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846. In the interim, one eastern border disagreement reached the point where it, too, is called (or miscalled; some historians insist it was a mere incident) a war, the Aroostook War (1839-1840).
The next articles in this series will talk about the War of 1812 and the Aroostook War.
From 1806 on, relations among the United States, Britain and other European belligerents, and within the United States between the pro-British Federalist party and the pro-French Democratic Party, became increasingly unfriendly. The United States banned imports in British ships; the British retaliated by attacks on American shipping.
Louis Hatch’s 1919 Maine history includes an interesting summary of the War of 1812. He discussed both the anti-war sentiment that was significant in all of New England and the ways many Maine people supported the war.
Although anti-war Federalists dominated in Augusta in the years before 1812, they were a minority in Kennebec County, the District of Maine and the United States, James North wrote in his Augusta history. He said Maine reportedly furnished more enlisted soldiers in proportion to population than any other state, and patriotically paid war taxes Congress required.
Casual students of Maine history probably think the war’s effects were limited to coastal and Downeast Maine – the British seized Castine and Machias and went up the Penobscot as far as present-day Bangor.
For some local historians, that view seemed accurate. For example, Vassalboro historian Alma Pierce Robbins gave the War of 1812 one sentence, saying it was unimportant to Vassalboro officials, perhaps because it wasn’t really a war. (Hatch, however, listed Vassalborough and Waterville as towns whose voters rejected proposals to petition the federal government to repeal the embargo on international trade.)
Similarly, in the town of Harlem, now China, the 1974 town history says that “There are no records of war casualties. The Harlem town records show no extraordinary political or financial effects.”
Others, notably Augusta historians North and Charles Elventen Nash, found that the War of 1812 had major and lamentable economic, personal and political effects. Nash and North wrote at length about the war, because both were detail-oriented and, perhaps, because Augusta was then the largest town in the area.
In his 1870 history, North wrote that as early as 1806, the war between Britain and France made Maine settlers fear the United States government would be forced to abandon the policy of neutrality that was commercially beneficial. Anticipating trouble, he said, Kennebec Valley people began thinking in military terms – hence, for example, the 1806 organization of Augusta’s first military company, the Augusta Light Infantry.
North called the Light Infantry Augusta’s “first independent company.” His account of the ladies of Augusta presenting a company standard on Sept. 11, 1806, says the cavalry and artillery units were waiting when the uniformed infantrymen arrived to receive a white silk standard with “Victory or Death” inscribed in red.
In December 1807 Congress passed the Embargo Act prohibiting United States exports to Europe. The act was a disaster for businessmen trading overseas, including many Kennebec Valley merchants and ship-builders; stopping trade stopped their livelihoods.
“[T]heir ships instead of making profitable voyages lay decaying at the wharves, and financial distress and in many cases bankruptcy followed,” Nash wrote.
On Aug. 20, 1808, voters at a special Augusta town meeting petitioned President Thomas Jefferson to repeal the embargo. Debate was spirited, North wrote; when the vote was taken, only seven men dissented.
A nine-man committee drafted a petition that was approved and forwarded to Washington. North quoted President Jefferson’s Sept. 10 reply defending the embargo and reminding Augusta residents that only Congress could repeal it unless the European powers first abandoned their anti-trade edicts and actions.
On Jan. 16, 1809, Augusta voters acted on a broader resolution condemning the embargo, a war with Britain and creation of a standing army. The vote was 85 in favor to 23 opposed, North wrote.
Nathan Weston
In 1810, North wrote, the Federalists and the Democrats held separate Fourth of July celebrations. The Democrats met in front of a Grove Street house to hear Nathan Weston’s speech; the Federalists, with the Augusta Light Infantry, paraded around the city, including past the Democratic gathering, “courteously suspending their music as they passed.”
(Nathan Weston was then a district judge; he was later an Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. See The Town Line, Dec. 10, 2020.)
The Federalists’ parade was followed by a banquet at a Hallowell tavern, in a room decorated with 17 wreaths for the 17 United States. North wrote that Virginia’s wreath included a hornet’s nest, “representing the stinging nature of her democracy.” A candle set the nest on fire and freed the hornets.
President James Madison continued the embargo and on June 18, 1812, signed the Congressionally-approved declaration of war with Great Britain.
The news reached Augusta around the beginning of July. Local Federalist party leaders and press denounced the declaration – North quoted the words “iniquitous, ruinous and not to be tolerated.” President Madison was hanged in effigy, and a fast in protest was held July 23.
Historian Henry Kingsbury added that federal troops stationed in Augusta were ready to counter the local reaction, “and but for the action of the civil authorities the episode must have closed with bloodshed.”
War worsened an already-bad economic situation in the Kennebec Valley. In Augusta, North summarized:
“The streams of prosperity were dried at their source, and in the general depression which followed Augusta had her full measure of distress; her wheels of industry in a measure stopped, her navigation dwindled, and her trade nearly ceased; and for many years her prosperity and growth were greatly retarded.”
Nash agreed, describing a “steady, visible decline” in business from 1807 to 1814.
Both historians saw 1813 as the low point. That year, Nash said, no new ships and very few new houses were built in town.
“Large and numerous piles of manufactured lumber ready for shipment cumbered the banks of the river, and there gradually deteriorated into a condition of little value,” Nash wrote. North added that downtown Augusta was ruined. By 1813, he wrote, “The town presented…a desolate appearance.”
Five major stores in brick buildings had closed, he said; only one store was still in business, Nash added. North wrote that the downtown buildings were owned by out-of-towners, some from the area, one from Massachusetts, one from Maryland.
On June 8, 1813, an Augusta-owned ship with an Augusta cargo was seized by a British ship. Captain and crew were promptly released, but the ship and cargo went to Nova Scotia.
Nash found that in 1808, 1809 and 1810, Augusta businessmen owned more than 1,000 tons of shipping. By 1817, three years after the war ended, the figure was less than 100 tons.
The war caused inflation. North offered sample retail price comparisons between 1811/12 and May 1813, including corn rising from a maximum of $1.28 to $1.70 and flour from $11 to $17 (he gave no measurements; corn per bushel and flour per barrel seem probable).
The beginning of 1814, he wrote, “was gloomy in the extreme; all imported articles continued extravagantly high. Breadstuffs were scarce and difficult to obtain, and a spirit of speculation was rife, induced by exorbitant and fluctuating prices.” There was considerable smuggling; the few remaining Augusta merchants were occasional participants.
Waterville residents, too, reacted to the 1807 embargo, historian Edwin Carey Whittemore wrote. They called a town meeting (no date is given) that was intended to approve a petition to the federal government to rescind the embargo and allow trade; “but the spirit of patriotism prevailed and the town authorized a resolution approving the Embargo” and appointed a committee to write and send it.
Soon afterwards, Whittemore wrote, another meeting authorized a powder magazine in the meeting-house loft, “probably as the driest place available.”
Otherwise, Whittemore ignored the war and skipped to 1814, when, he wrote, one of the Waterville shipyards launched “the largest ship ever built here,” the 290-ton “Francis and Sarah”. After the war, Waterville became a hub of water-borne trade on the Kennebec.
The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent on Dec. 24, 1814. North wrote the news reached Augusta Feb. 11, 1815, where it ignited “the liveliest demonstrations of joy. Bells were rung and bonfires kindled….” There was another celebration Feb. 14, a religious service of thanksgiving Feb. 22 and on April 13 a “national thanksgiving.”
In the next months, he wrote, commerce revived, but taxes to cover war costs continued: “a direct tax on lands and dwelling-houses, and specific taxes on household furniture, watches and stamps, on retailers, manufacturers and carriages.”
Augusta got a belated bonus from the War of 1812: the federal government built the Kennebec Arsenal between 1828 and 1838, as the disputed Maine-Canada boundary kept relations with Britain uneasy.
A 1997 article by Maine historians Marius B. Peladeau and Roger G. Reed (found on line) explains that the events of 1812-1814 showed how easily a naval power like Britain could disrupt water transport of war supplies to the Maine frontier from the nearest arsenal, in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Therefore, on March 3, 1827 (10 days after Governor Enoch Lincoln approved the state law making Augusta Maine’s capital, Peladeau and Reed commented), President John Quincy Adams signed a law ordering the Secretary of the Army to site and build an arsenal at Augusta.
An Army engineer chose a 40-acre lot on the east bank of the Kennebec. The plan expanded from a “depot” for supplies from Massachusetts to “an arsenal complex large enough to fabricate military supplies and be semi-independent” if communication with Massachusetts were interrupted.
Congress tripled the initial $15,000 appropriation to $45,000, and, Peladeau and Reed wrote, the cornerstone for the first of 15 buildings was laid June 14, 1828. Ten of the buildings were of “unhammered granite, laid in ashlar courses, from the already famous nearby Hallowell quarry.” The rest were wooden.
“As is so often the case when the government is involved,” the authors observed, there were cost overruns. On March 27, 1829, Congress added another $45,000 to the arsenal budget.
Peladeau and Reed described the main building as 100 by 30 feet, three stories high with a “spacious basement.” It had room for 142,760 muskets. Nearby were two powder magazines, officers’ quarters, barracks, a guard house, a stable and “shops for the blacksmiths, armorers and wheelwrights.”
An eight-foot-high iron fence on a granite foundation surrounded the entire lot. There was a granite retaining wall along the river and, not finished until 1833 or later, a granite wharf “at which vessels drawing ten feet of water could dock even when the river experienced its lowest level during a summer’s drought.”
The Arsenal’s second commander, James W. Ripley (who took over May 31, 1833), persuaded the government to add another 20 acres and extend the fence around the new area. Ripley oversaw construction of a “spring-fed reservoir” near the commander’s quarters, with a large enough pool so trout and salmon could swim in it. “Whether these delicacies were for the sole enjoyment of the commander and his officers, or whether they were shared with the enlisted men, is left to the imagination of the reader,” Peladeau and Reed wrote.
The Arsenal was a military facility until the early 1900s, when the federal government gave it to the state. It was part of the Augusta Mental Health Institute until the late 1900s.
In 2000, the Arsenal was designated a National Historic Landmark District. The on-line list of Maine’s historic places calls it “a good example of a nearly intact early 19th-century munitions storage facility.”
Peladeau and Reed’s piece was intended to help historic preservation groups decide what to do with the eight granite buildings remaining in 1997. “All in a chaste and simple style, they stand today as among the best surviving examples of the military architecture of the period,” the historians wrote.
Hatch, Louis Clinton, ed., Maine: A History 1919 (facsimile, 1974).
Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Nash, Charles Elventon, The History of Augusta (1904).
North, James W., The History of Augusta (1870).
Whittemore, Rev. Edwin Carey, Centennial History of Waterville 1802-1902 (1902).
Websites, miscellaneous.
Endicott College, in Beverly, Massachusetts, the first college in the U.S. to require internships of its students, is pleased to announce its Fall 2021 dean’s list students. In order to qualify for the dean’s list, a student must obtain a minimum grade point average of 3.5, receive no letter grade below “C,” have no withdrawal grades, and be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits for the semester.
The following students have met these requirements:
Alana York, of Palermo, majoring in business management, is the daughter of Cheryl York and Andrew York.
Kristen Dube, of Sidney, majoring in nursing, is the daughter of Sarah Dube and Robert Dube.
by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & PercyThis week I’m going to use a April 1, 2020, that was in The Town Line called, “The time I let Percy write the column in my absence.”
Now I would like to thank Roland from the bottom of my heart, for leaving Percy’s picture beside mine on our column; for all these years. For those of you who don’t know, Percy died quite a few years ago, and I still miss him every day, he was a very remarkable animal! I came across a small clipping that I found recently dated The Town Line, January 3, 2008, with only Percy’s picture (Percy was alive and well at that time, and I had let him write our column that week because I was down in sunny Florida!).
Good morning , dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!
This is Percy wishing you the happiest of New Years! I am missing my human, she has been down in sunny Florida since before Christmas. I am thrilled beyond belief that she is letting me write this column again, since so many of you have told her that you prefer my writing instead of hers. Since I don’t have any real news to share, I have been reflecting on what subject to write about, think perhaps Happiness might be a good topic to delve into. Our byline each week being, “Don’t Worry be Happy, and she’s been using it for years before I started helping her. Does that make you stop and think just how happy you really are?
Some quotes I can think of are, “Cheerfulness greases the axles of the world. “Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.” True happiness consists in making others happy.” But the one I like the best is “There are two essentials to happiness: something to do, and someone to love.”
It gives me great pleasure to behold the sappy look on my humans face when I lavish her with love, ( I curl up in her lap and put my paw as far around her neck as I can and sing at the top of my lungs!) That is pure ectasy, and makes me happy, also. As I have told you before, the first thing she does when she gets up in the morning, even before she gets her breakfast, is to give me my dish of tuna fish, such love is beyond measure. Do I appreciate it ? You betcha ! She gets pretty upset when I do things I know I’m not supposed to, but she comes around when I make up, unconditional love is the greatest! Are you gaining insight about finding happiness from my words? I do hope so, but to continue, with more wise words. When you do the things you do with love, you give life a gleam that most people only carry a glimpse of. Your attitude affects the outcome of so many things. Smiles inspire smiles. Reaching out brings people in. Looking on the bright side doesn’t entail being naïve and donning rose colored glasses. It simply means leaving the cynicism and complaining to someone else, someone who will spend their whole life wondering why good things don’t come their way.
Anyway, my human and I would like to wish you the Happiest New Year ever! Signed by Percy.
Percy got many of these quotes from different books, and just to let you know, to those of you who have been reading this column for years, Roland has let me get away with lots of mushy stuff over the many years he has been my editor.
As many people have discovered, it’s a healthy idea to have a personal fitness trainer.
by Gini Grimsley, MS, CSCS
(NAPSI)—Exercising with a personal trainer has transformed from a luxury amenity into a highly effective lifestyle routine in many people’s health and fitness journeys. One reason may be that, according to a recent report by International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), a global health and fitness association, 83 percent of consumers who exercise in-person with a personal trainer are on track to meet their fitness goals.
Personal trainers not only focus on the workouts inside a gym, but influence habits outside the gym and have become an essential part of their clients’ wellness team. If you’re thinking about hiring a personal trainer, there are many things to consider.
Goals
Set clear goals and search for trainers who specialize in your area of focus. All personal trainers know the basics but if you’re looking for something specific—competing in a race, for example—you may need to work with a trainer who has a more specialized skill set.
Never hire a trainer who does not hold the minimum standard qualifications to practice personal training. Certifications from these reputable associations are considered the gold-standard:
Inquire about other specialty certifications, too, such as pre- and post-natal, corrective exercise, or Olympic weightlifting.
Fit
Interview your prospective personal trainers and get to know them. You’ll be spending a lot of time with this person, so it’s important you enjoy being around them. Have them share their training philosophy: Personal trainers should be able to articulate what they do and why, helping you understand their thoughts around fitness and how they’ll help you reach your goals. Don’t forget to ask about availability to ensure the trainer can fit you into their current schedule on your preferred dates and times.
Tailored Programming
A great personal trainer will be able to take what they learn about you during an introductory session and build out a program structured specifically for you. The program should be holistic and focus on activities and lifestyle habits conducted inside and outside the gym. Have them outline a plan for you, detailing mini milestones you can achieve during the process.
• Ms Grimsley is a Personal Training expert at VASA Fitness. Learn more at www.vasafitness.com.
A crow found dead near the stairs to our house. (photo by Roland Hallee)
by Roland D. HalleeA black cat crossing your path; walking under a ladder; breaking a mirror: take your pick of long-standing superstitions. Most of us have some kind of superstition, although some don’t want to admit it.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
My wife leaves for work before I do, and one morning last week, she informed me there was a dead crow at the bottom of the stairs to the porch at our house. So, I went out to investigate. Sure enough, there he was, stiff as a board. I didn’t know whether it was frozen, or rigor mortis had already set in.
Now, all kinds of thoughts went through my head. There is another superstition about robins appearing at your window. That one goes like this: Robins are often seen as a sign of visits from our deceased family members or loved ones in the spiritual world, and many people take a visit from one as a sign that one is on its way. In addition to representing a fresh start in life, the Robin is seen by many as a lucky charm.
So, if a robin is some form of good fortune, what can a crow mean, especially a dead one.
Few birds are more misunderstood than crows. They are commonly associated with death and misfortune, but the dead crow meaning is thought to suggest the opposite – potentially bringing good news and positive change to those who see it. Though different people and belief systems hold many varying ideas, it is the crow’s connection to transformation and change – of a good or bad kind – which seems to remain a common theme.
So, to the computer I went to see what I could learn about birds in our lives. This is what I came up with.
Many of us have seen a dead crow in our lives, but what does the symbolism of this creature say about you? Dead crows are often associated with death and mourning. If you come across one during your day, it might be time to reflect on what is important to you. Dead crows also symbolize loneliness and despair.
Crows are commonly associated with death and misfortune – a black-colored bird that portends doom. However, this is the crow symbolism when alive. The dead crow meaning is thought to suggest the opposite, potentially bringing good news and positive change to those who see it.
Now, I am an optimistic person, always seeing the bright side of things. So, seeing that dead crow more than likely means something positive is about to happen. I’m not sure what that might be.
So, what remains to be seen is what is going to happen, and how long it takes. I’m sure there is an expiration date on superstitious activity.
Birds are geniuses and bird symbolism is a vast topic but it seems to be agreed that the meaning behind seeing a dead bird depends on what type of bird it is. We’ve already mentioned the fact that a crow’s death might suggest positive outcomes for those who see them, yet there is also a belief that dead blackbirds, including crows, point to an unresolved tension deep inside someone. This is because the color black represents that which we cannot see.
A white bird depicting purity, peace, and goodness – such as a dove – is tragic and ominous in death. They might forbode the loss of something special, or an approaching conflict, depending on the happenings in an individual’s life. If the bird has positive associations when alive, it makes sense that its death would have a negative meaning.
Since songbirds represent communication, their death should encourage us to ask ourselves if we’re hiding something: perhaps we’re not speaking up, or we’ve lost touch with someone in our lives.
Another factor that changes the meaning of seeing a dead bird is the location. If a dead bird falls on your doorstep or in your garden, you must expect that change is coming soon, whether you want it or not. It’s best to change your habits and not resist this change.
If the bird hits your window, this means you are confronting an obstacle that must be overcome or removed. Lastly, if it comes inside your house, you need to look inwardly since the change going on is inside yourself. The consistent theme is one of transformation and change, whether that’s in a positive or negative way. The important thing is to not resist the change that is happening but find a way to adapt.
Crows are believed to guide us towards change – to prepare us for a transition in our lives. Their adaptability is an example to us, showing that we too need to change to survive. When one appears before you, it is encouragement not to resist that change that is coming and inevitable. Since dying is perhaps the biggest change of all, their role in the process of death is unsurprising.
The crow is a bird that has been deeply entrenched in the mythology of many different cultures and religions. It’s believed to be more than just an animal, but rather some kind of spiritual messenger or omen for change. In Greek Mythology it was considered sacred, while Native American tribes have viewed them as guardians and healers. The crow has also been revered in other parts of the world for its clever nature and intelligence.
In many cultures, the crow was seen as a messenger of death. Crows have often been found near battlefields and they were once believed to be the souls of warriors who had not yet crossed over from this life into the next.
As recently as World War II, people interpreted dead or wounded crows in their own way but it is generally accepted today that they are not considered an omen of death.
An occurrence in which one sees dead crows is typically not a sign that something bad will happen, but rather an omen of change. Dead crows are often seen as messengers, specifically heralding the coming of a new era or event in one’s life. Dead crows have been known to represent death and transformation.
Dead crows are also seen as messengers, specifically heralding the coming of a new era or event in one’s life. In some cultures, they also signify being free from bondage or restriction. Seeing dead crows can be interpreted as a sign of change on the horizon.
There is a Biblical meaning of dead birds. A bird’s ability to fly puts them closer to the heavens and elevates them above the human world, giving them a special role in religion. Some types of birds came to represent parts of the Christian soul and the Saints themselves. The white dove was particularly significant, representing the Holy Spirit and indicating a blessing from God.
On the other hand, dead birds were considered to show failure – a warning to prepare someone for the challenges ahead. They might also be a sign of a loved one passing away.
After reading all of this, I think I will take the high road, and say the bird prophesized a positive change. We were recently told we will become great-grandparents for the second time.
Did I mention that I am not superstitious?
Name the six NFL teams that have won only one Super Bowl.